Chief Information Commissioner will now be heading totally re-constituted larger four-member bench for continuous three-days hearing on 16-17-18 August 2017 of clubbed petitions of several petitioners against political parties which till now have exhibited unusual unanimity for defying full-bench CIC-verdict of 03.06.2013 bringing these under purview of RTI Act.

The matter is hanging for last more than four years with law-making political parties breaking law by not complying with CIC-verdict bringing them under RTI Act. It is irony that political parties are not honouring verdict from Central Information Commission which was constituted through an Act legislated by them in the Parliament.

Neither they have challenged the verdict in the court nor legislated against their being under RTI Act. CIC should under various provisions of RTI Act require central government to suspend all direct and indirect government-funding to political parties as an interim measure till finality of the matter:

Political parties may be made to submit their complete fiscal details including incoming and outgoing funds to Election Commission for making these public through website. Election Commission may de-recognize all about 2000 non-serious political parties which might not have contested any election in last say three years.

Commission may be required to intervene for making political parties complying with CIC-verdict by giving them time-bound ultimatum for their de-recognition in case of their not complying with the said CIC-verdict dated 03.06.2013. Any other direct/indirect government-funding by central or state governments may kindly be directed to be suspended.

NEW DELHI, Aug 9 (Agencies): Amid the border standoff with China, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Indian armed forces are strong enough to meet any challenge to the country’s security as he underlined that lessons have been learnt from the 1962 war.
He also said in the Rajya Sabha that the people of the country have a predominant wish of retrieving the parts of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan since 1948.
Jaitley, while initiating a special debate to mark the 75th anniversa